Cameron Hayley ready to realize his dream racing in NASCAR

It has been a long road for Cameron Hayley to get to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park — 3,555.23 kms long to be exact.

Hayley, who turned 18 just last month, left his Calgary home at the start of the 2014 racing season to pursue his dream of one day driving in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

And as of Saturday he is making giant strides to make that happen.

Hayley had been racing full time for the championship in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series — he is currently second in points — when the opportunity came to move up the racing ladder to the Truck series along with Turner Scott Motorsports No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado.

He jumped at the chance and that it is happening in Canada made it even better, but still a long way from home.

“I have been dreaming of racing in NASCAR since I was four years old,” Hayley said at CTMP.

He has been fast since his first trip to the track in a GoKart and at 14 he won his first race in a stock car.

Last season he was picked from teenagers across North America to be part of the NASCAR Next program, an opportunity to get recognized not only by NASCAR bosses but by team owners in the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series as an up and coming race car driver.

Racing on Sunday at CTMP in his first Truck series race is the logical next step in his racing plan.

“It really is a dream come true,” Hayley said.

The great thing about this kid is the intelligence he has leading up to this moment.

Hayley said he sat in front of a computer simulator for hours studying the 10-turn, 3.9-km CTMP grand prix road course, so that when he got here Friday — for his first time — he felt as if he had already done a hundred laps.

“It really helped; on my first lap I felt I knew what to do on every turn,” he said.

Hayley did admit, though, that there was a big difference going from the lower horsepower K&N car to the trucks.

“First off the handling is way better, going from bias to radial tires, and you notice the difference in power right away,” he said.

In his first qualifying effort Saturday he was 20th fastest at 107.930 mph, behind pole-sitter Alex Tagliani who lapped the track at 109.889 mph.

“I think we will have a top five truck (on Sunday),” Hayley said. “If that happens I will be more than satisfied.”

ALESHIN RECOVERING

Verizon IndyCar Series driver Mikhail Aleshin was reported in serious but stable condition in hospital, after a crash late Friday in the final practice for the final race of the season at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

A statement from IndyCar medical consultant Dr. Terry Trammell said Aleshin had been “diagnosed with fractured ribs, a broken right clavicle a concussion and chest injuries.

“He was admitted to the hospital and listed in serious but stable condition.”

FINISH LINES

There is an active discussion on the world wide web over the fact that if Tony Stewart wins one of the two races left on the regular Sprint Cup season, he will be allowed into the Chase for the Championship even though he missed three races. It says here that NASCAR boss Mike Helton made the right decision. Stewart on his results this season and his past performances make him deserving to be there. … You have to wonder what is going on at McLaren’s Formula 1 team where they are publicly courting both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to join the team. Both are under contract — Vettel for one more season at Red Bull and Alonso for two more seasons at Ferrari. In any other professional sport McLaren would be harshly punished for that kind of tampering. But apparently not in F-1. … Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 will be televised live on TSN5 starting at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate. … Vancouver’s Scott Hargrave will win the Porsche GT Challenge Series championship on Sunday just by starting at CTMP. All the 19-year-old needs is two points to clinch and he gets that when he starts the car.

DUMOULIN TOUGH TO BEAT

BOWMANVILLE— L.P. Dumoulin insists that he is not at all surprised to be leading the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship with only three races left in the 2014 season.

The Montreal native gave notice in the 2013 season — with two wins — that he was a force to be reckoned with in the country’s top stock car racing series.

But primarily known as a road course specialist, he was never considered championship material until this season.

Dumoulin said Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park his decision to move his race team from Ontario to Montreal, plus the addition of NASCAR veteran Mario Gosselin as crew chief for the No. 47 Weather Tech Dodge has made a huge difference.

“Being close to home I have more control over what happened with the team,” he said after the final practice for Sunday’s Clarington 200.

“And Mario has been a huge help making our oval program better.”

In fact, Dumoulin’s overall performance has been much better this season with two wins — one on the short oval in Saskatoon — five podium finishes and seven top-five results in eight races.

“I am not surprised because we have worked very hard,” he said.

Dumoulin knows, however, that he must make hay at CTMP on Sunday to keep or extend his 26-point lead over J.R. Fitzpatrick before the final two races — both on short ovals — at Barrie Speedway and Kawartha Speedway.

He will start on the second row on Sunday in the No. 47 Dodge behind pole sitter Andrew Ranger who laid down at lap of 83.261 seconds (106.321 mph) in the No. 27 Mopar/Exide Dodge.

— Dean McNulty​

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